When Cloth Diapers Are NOT Best

Baby Mo's staph infection is clearing up, albeit slowly. Yesterday I took him to the doctor because a new rash had popped up. I thought it was impetigo, which can be caused by staph infections. Thankfully the doctor did not think it was impetigo but he decided to treat it as such just in case with a topical ointment. 

I asked the doctor why this rash had come up while the staph was healing and he said that the cloth diapers were likely irritating his skin. He said that since cloth diapers don't chemically wick away wetness, the urine that collects in the fabric overnight is probably causing a new rash while there is already an infection in that area. He suggested I switch back to disposables until the staph clears up. 

I left his office feeling a bit defeated, I have to be honest. You try to make choices that you think are best for your child and then in instances like this, they backfire. I hate disposable diapers - for a lot of the same reasons as Nathalee - but I obligingly switched back until the infection clears up. I hope that is soon! Staph can be known to take its sweet time going away! 

I called my mother-in-law on the way home from the doctor's office and she was very sweet and encouraging. She told me I was being too hard on myself. How was I to know that staph was one of the few instances where cloth diapers would not be the best choice? She basically told me to take a breath because motherhood will continue to throw me curve balls like this and all I can do is try to keep up. I know she is right but I still can't help but feel a little responsible. 

Thankfully Baby Mo does not seem sick, uncomfortable, or otherwise inconvenienced in the least by any of this. Kids are resilient, eh? 

Meanwhile, I am putting gauze over the infected area in between the medicine and the diaper. I am also using Thirsty Duo Diaper Wraps at night over the disposable to prevent leaks. These things work just as great with sposies as they do with cloth! Highly recommend for all mommies! 

Side note: I had forgotten one thing since switching to cloth diapers nearly a year ago: disposable diapers are expensive! Sheesh!! 

Mama Cloth. Yes, I Went There.

I realize that this post may destroy any amount of sex appeal I once had on the Internet but for the sake of posterity, I am about to "go there." 

I used to have a reputation as someone who was sexy and knowledgeable about technology. I still do some of that but I am also a mommy blogger. As such, I am exposed to things that are less desireably spoken of like cloth diapers and mama cloth. That's right, I said mama cloth. 

Mama cloth is the cloth diaper equivalent for a woman's monthly menstrual needs. If you are a man who once thought I had sex appeal, kindly close out of this post right now and perhaps I can preserve a little bit of that perception. 

So ladies, reusable period pads. I am just crazy enough to try them and I did!

Charlie Banana, the brand of cloth diapers I use the most, launched a line of mama cloth products called Feminie Secrets. Jennifer emailed us MommyBetas a link to these and expressed disgust with the idea, knowing that the hippy Natali and Nathalee would probably be crazy enough to give it a go. So I took the challenge. I wrote to my friend who represents Charlie Banana and inquired about samples. 

Allow me to explain why I would do something like this. I can afford $10 per month for a box of Tampax and I have never suffered from any adverse affects from the use of tampons. But as a mother, I use cloth diapers because I care about the environment and I care about limiting synthetic products in our lives. I also care about teaching my son to reject modern conveniences when there is a chance to make responsible choices. 

Based on those priorities, I figured that a little more bodily fluid in my cloth wash cycles couldn't really hurt. Besides, the average woman only bleeds 2 tablespoons per cycle. How bad could it be to wash that much out per month? 

My mama cloth arrived last week and the next day, so did Aunt Flo. Tee hee hee. I said Aunt Flo. Am I in the 7th grade? 

These are really not that bad! They fold up in the size of a small coin purse. To wear, you snap them around your panties. When you leave the house, you carry a small cloth purse to dispose of previously worn pads. When you are ready to wash, you throw the entire bag in the rinse cycle, rinse, and then do a wash cycle after separating the pads from the bag. I never had to scrub my own menstruation off of the pads. 

Are these things bulky? Yeah. I'll be straight with you. They are. And there is no adhesive to keep them in place so if I had a marathon to run (as if!) I wouldn't use them. The lack of adhesive means they move around a little and that can feel odd. 

I do like the idea of saving money though. It annoys me to spend $10 per month on a feminine products that I am not thrilled to be using anyway. The Charlie Banana mama cloth cost about $18 for a pack of 3 so if you were to start using these, you'd have to drop some bucks initially but they'd pay themselves off quickly. 

So will I stick with these? I think I will for the foreseeable future. I have pretty manageable periods and I don't run marathons so they don't cramp my style all that much. Would I use them 100 percent of the time? Probably not. If I do want to go to the gym during Aunt Flo (tee hee hee), I will probably use a tampon. But I like the idea of saving cash, the environment, and limiting my exposure to synthetic cotton, especially in such an intimate area!

My mom thought I was crazy when I told her about these and my husband has pretty much ignored this experiment. Which is just as well. Maybe to him I can preserve some of that sex appeal after all. 

Wet T-Shirt Night... And Not The Good Kind

"Diaper sprayer... That is a first," said the Roto-Rooter man at 10:30 p.m.

I had tried to install it myself and it went horribly awry. I ended up doused in toilet water - and I mean doused. We're talking wet T-shirt contest style here.

Oh and in tears. I was doused in toilet water and in tears. Here's the story that is only funny in hindsight.

After a nice dinner with Clayton, I decided to get ahead on chores in preparation for my mom's visit this weekend. On my list: laundry, finish painting the changing table and shelves, wrap Baby Mo's birthday gift, and if I got ahead of the game, install that diaper sprayer. 

I hadn't used the diaper sprayer that was sent to me for my cloth diaper challenge because it didn't fit our New York City apartment's toilet. Since moving into the new house, I had been eager to install it in Baby Mo's bathroom.

For those of you that don't know, this is a diaper sprayer. You use it to spray the poop off of your diapers before you throw them out or wash them. You are supposed to dispose of all baby poop before disposing of diapers or washing reusables. Throwing poop in the landfill is a health hazard. Most people don't do that but they should. Anyway, I digress.

I followed the instructions on the package but when I turned the water valve back on, the toilet started showering me in the face like a polite reminder.

This is not correct. Please go get help.

I ignored the reminder. The package said to tighten the valves if there was leaking. I kept tightening but the spray got worse. So bad in fact that it soaked up three towels, and eventually went off like a geyser all over me.

PANIC!

Now I decide I must get Clayton, who is recovering from leg surgery yesterday and knows nothing about plumbing.

"Honey," I said faux-calmly, walking down the stairs dripping wet with wrench in my hand, "I need you. Like right now. Immediately. It's urgent."

He limped up the stairs and stopped in his tracks at the sight of our leaking toilet and his insane drenched wife.

"Why did you just go and do this? I can't fix this. Get a plumber here now!"

Ladies, you know the fantasy. If I can just do this by myself he will be so impressed with me and I will be liberated from having to ask him to do handy things like this for me. Key word here: fantasy.

Roto-Rooter, God bless that company, showed up in about 15 minutes. The nice man did not even really know what a diaper sprayer was until he got upstairs. He noticed that the package was missing a washer and that was why the sprayer was leaking. He got one out of his truck and fixed it in about 10 minutes, all the while trying not to chuckle at me.

"Ah new home owners," he said, shaking his head while twisting my wrench under the toilet. He stopped to look at said wrench and said, "And these are somebody's dad's..."

It is true. The wrench was likely purchased from a hardware store in 1957 before Home Depot ever existed by my dear sweet father-in-law Don.

When I ran downstairs to recount the story with Clayton he was embarrassed.

"My good tools are still in storage!" he said defiantly.

I told the plumber that my husband was embarrassed about the tools and he said, "I wouldn't be embarrassed. It means that they're good tools."

After a few minutes the sprayer was successfully installed and I gotta say, it is kind of neat! I wonder about its potential as a bidet?

"So I don't even know what to call this job," said the plumber when he was done. "We charge $52 for emergency response so I'm just going to charge you for that and chalk the rest up to experience."

So I stumped a plumber tonight. One for the books. Maybe even the baby book? I could put the receipt in Baby Mo's? I'll consider it while I shower off this toilet water.

Cloth Diapers: YES! Cloth Wipes: NO!

Last fall I committed to 30 days of cloth diapering. Three months later, we are still going with no intention of going back to 'sposies! I am a proud CDer!

But we are not CD purists. We use disposable wipes. Gasp!

The diaper companies that supported my cloth diaper trial sent us enough cloth wipes to last through Baby Mo's diapering life but I did not try them right away. I had just as many questions about cloth wiping as I did about cloth diapering so I waited a few weeks. I figured we would try cloth diapers first, cloth wipes next, and if we got crazy, maybe even family cloth.

Actually no, I'm kidding. There is no way I could talk my husband into family cloth. This means that the whole family uses cloth wipes, diapers or otherwise. Props to those that do it! I love Mother Earth but not enough to handle and wash my own poop.

After about a month of cloth diapering, we were ready to try the wiping. I watched this video about storing cloth wipes in a pop-up dispenser and bought a spray bottle. They just did not work for us. They smeared the stool around baby's behind without really getting it clean, even if we used a spray bottle to lubricate. Also, I started to notice Baby Mo had a small rash. Whether it was directly related to the wipes, I can't say for sure but the wiping experience was unpleasant enough not to find out.

I'm now using our huge stash of cloth wipes to clean spit up and baby's goupy cheeks during meals. I have more than I'll ever need so if anyone is interested in unused but washed cloth wipes, they're all yours!

So my cloth wipe trial was a big fat fail but my cloth diaper trial was an overall success! I am still SO glad we did this! CDer for life! Meanwhile, I hope the environmental purists will forgive me for using disposable wipes. It's like my dad used to say: "No one is perfect but we try to do a lot of things right."

High-Tech-Style Cloth Diaper Review

I know gadgets. That is my day job. I do not know diapers or other children's products in the professional sense, so it is with trepidation that I try to "review" the diapers that I tested during my 30-day cloth diaper challenge.

I have been asked to run down the various diapers that I have tried. I do this with hesitation. Most of these diapers were created by work-at-home moms (or WAHMs as the lingo goes). They were made with love and the small businesses that resulted are a mother's attempt to succeed at a livelihood while raising her children. There is no more noble endeavor, so I don't take it lightly that my words will have impact.

However, I do want new moms to try out cloth diapering and I want them to succeed! It is an amazing thing that you can do for your child, your family, your budget, and the environment.

So without further ado, I am going to attempt to put my technology reviewing experience to work and try to review my cloth diapers the same way I would review a gadget. Here goes!

Charlie Banana pocket diapers

• Interface: Easy to use, great fit, great variety of colors and designs. I especially like the black diapers. Makes my son look hardcore!

• Storage capacity: These hold a good amount of poop! I haven't had leaks or explosions except when my mom snapped them too loosely because she was afraid of cutting off his circulation, bless her heart!

• Battery life: I make it a point to change my son about every two hours if there has not been a poopoo. These do not leak at all within this time frame. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can buy a 6-pack of these diapers with 12 hypoallergenic inserts for about $100 on Amazon.

• Overall rating: I love these diapers! I like that you stuff and un-stuff the inserts from the front of the diaper rather than from the back like some other brands. This means that you are a lot less likely to get poopy hands while removing the insert since poop most often stays in the back, unless it is one of those kinds of poops. You new parents know what I mean!

RagaBabe all-in-one diapers

• Interface: The easiest! The liners for these diapers are sewn in so you don't have to stuff or un-stuff anything. You just put them on like a normal diaper. When you take them off, you throw them in a wet bag. When the wet bag is full, you throw the whole thing in the wash. A cinch! RagaBabe diapers are not quite as soft as the polar fleece pocket diapers but they are less bulky and the designs are super cute.

• Storage capacity: They hold in what needs to be held in. I have not had any leaks or explosions with these because the fit is really snug and secure.

• Battery life: My son can go about 2 hours between changes as long as there has not been a poopoo. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can purchase these individually for about $23-25 per diaper.

• Overall rating: Two thumbs up for ease, fit, and effectiveness. As for design, some of them are cute but I can't say I am a fan of the tie-dye or the leopard print. My husband changed the tie-dye diaper tonight and when he unsnapped the onesie, he said, "What the (blank) is this!?"

Rumparooz pocket diapers

• Interface: Some of the cutest designs I have seen and some of the best fit diapers we received. They are really snug and well fitted. My husband especially likes the velcro variety because who needs more snaps while changing a baby?

• Storage capacity: The velcro variety hold as much as the other brands but those that snap are my least favorite. They seem to gap a little between the baby's legs which allows a little bit of leakage.

• Battery life: Like the others, my son can go about 2 hours between changes as long as there has not been a poopoo. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can purchase these individually for about $23 per diaper.

• Overall rating: A family fave! Super cute design and they appear very comfortable on my little man.

FuzziBunz pocket diapers

• Interface: I find these the easiest diapers to stuff and fit on the baby. The opening for the fleece liner is large so I can jam the liners in faster than you can snap your fingers. I also like the solid color options.

• Storage capacity:They get the job done! They hold a fair amount but you have to make sure to snap them snugly. If you try to give the baby some breathing room between the snaps, you will be more prone to leaks. I was a little shy about that at first and paid the price with leaks. The next time I fastened too tightly and left a mark on my poor baby's leg that took a few days to go away. I felt like a jerk mommy.

• Battery life: Like the others, my son can go about 2 hours between changes as long as there has not been a poopoo. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can buy a 6-pack of these diapers with 12 hypoallergenic inserts for about $116 on Amazon.

• Overall rating: I hesitate to give these an A+ because of the fit issue. I had an easier time fitting other diapers on my son out of the gate but after a little trial-and-error, I learned how to fit these properly and had absolutely no complaints. I will give them an A-.

Softbums

• Interface: These are some of the cutest diapers I have seen. I love the patterns! The drawback to these are that they are a little hard to learn at first. I started with the Echo System in which the fleece liner does not get stuffed inside the diaper. It snaps onto the outside of the lining and you fold it into itself. I found that hard to get used to. I also had to watch videos to learn how to adjust the size toggles, although once you learn that, it is great because the diaper can grow with the baby. Perhaps if I had started with the Omni System which does get stuffed from the inside, I would have had more success out of the gate.

• Storage capacity: Holds a good amount of pee because the insert doubles over on itself.

• Battery life: The Echo System do seem to leak a little if my son wears them overnight. I think the doubling of the liner creates gaps that he seems to leak through. During the day, however, these diapers hold up like the rest: about 2 hours in between changes if there are no poops.

• Cost: You can purchase these individually for about $23 per diaper.

• Overall rating: I don't recommend starting with the Echo system. In theory, you should be able to go longer without washing the shell and just wash the liners but it did not work for me like that. I had to wash the shell pretty much every time. I would say start with the Omni system and try the Echo system once you are more comfortable with the idea of cloth diapering.

gDiapers hybrid diapers

• Interface: These are some stylish diapers and I especially like how thin and form-fitting they are. Some of the pocket diapers can be bulky but these fit like disposables. The hybrid diapers have a reusable shell but liners that you throw away. Getting rid of the liners is not my favorite task. They bulk up in the toilet so you have to either tear it up or break it up yourself to get it to flush. I suppose I could use my Diaper Genie to dispose of these instead. They are also made to break down in a compost system in about 3 months but that is not an option in our small New York City apartment. gDiapers also have reusable inserts but I did not use these much.

• Storage capacity:These don't absorb like the fleece pocket diapers. I have to change my son a bit more often or they will leak. They do hold the poopoo just fine though.

• Battery life: About every 90 minutes for pee and as-needed for poo.

• Cost: You can buy a 6-pack of the diapers with 4 biodegradable gRefill packs for about $130 on Diapers.com. The refills cost about $52 for about 160.

• Overall rating: I'm not a huge fan of the hybrid system. They are said to be the best of cloth diapering and the worst of cloth diapering. The best because they are convenient since you have less to wash. The worst because you are still buying something and throwing away something with regularity like you do with disposables. I can see why some people choose these but in the end, they are not my cloth diapers of choice.

Bootyful Baby Boutique all-in-two pocket diapers

• Interface: These are really cute and soft and easy to put on the baby. I also like the solid colors and I found them to be less bulky than other diapers.

• Storage capacity: I did have a few leaks with these diapers along the top of the diaper along my son's belly button. These snap on the side and don't secure well around the stomach so if they don't fit perfectly, they seem to gape a little along the top. That created a little bit of leakage with peepee but they had absolutely no problem holding the poopoo.

• Battery life: Like the others, my son can go about 2 hours between changes as long as there has not been a poopoo. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can purchase these individually for about $22 per diaper.

• Overall rating: I like these but just wish they fit a little better. My son is tall and thin for his age so I think they may work better for chunkier babies.

Nifty Nappy woolie wraps

NOTE: I did not use these as specified. That was my fault. I thought that they were a rare kind of pocket diapers at first but they were not. They are fitted diapers, designed to be used with a cover. I chalk this up to user error - and by user I mean ME!

Since I did not really use these as intended and got carried away with my pocket system, I am not the right person to give these a full review but I will say that they are the cutest and softest thing ever to arrive in my mailbox. They are also very trim and fitted so baby's bottom won't look so bulky. They are also great for anyone who needs a more hypoallergenic material on the baby. You can purchase these individually for about $23 per diaper. 

Tiny Tush pocket diapers

• Interface: On par with the other high-quality pocket diapers. Cute colors, great absorbency, easy to fit to the baby. The snaps are placed in convenient locations so you can assure a snug and leak-free fit.

• Storage capacity: Great! Never a leak or an explosion.

• Battery life: Like the others, my son can go about 2 hours between changes as long as there has not been a poopoo. They have also held up overnight without leaks.

• Cost: You can purchase these individually for about $18 per diaper.

• Overall rating: These are the most affordable diapers I have seen and just as high quality as the others. A great bargain for a really great diaper.

Evolution Diapers pocket diapers

• Interface: Very cute design but they don't secure across the stomach, making it a little more prone to leaks.

• Storage capacity: Since these only fasten at the baby's hips and not across the stomach, I had a few leaks out of the top center of the diaper. Absolutely no poop explosions though. The material is more like the dry-fit material on your workout gear so it keeps the baby dry and clean.

• Battery life: If there are no leaks out of the top, these diapers are on par with the other pocket variety. I go about every 2 hours between changes if there is no poop and they hold up over night.

• Cost: TBD. The company's Web site is under construction.

• Overall rating: These might be better for chunkier babies because of the lack of snaps across the belly. Otherwise, a solid choice for cloth diapering. Thumbs up for softness and overall effectiveness.

Note: I did not test out any prefold or fitted diapers so if you are curious about those, you'll have to go to the forums. There are plenty of those to choose from! Happy diapering!

And Another Note: This post was originally posted on CBSNews.com's Eye On Parenting blog.